


Cutting Spencer's Hair

by arsenicarose



Series: Dr. Spencer Reid: Drabbles, Fluff, Short Fics, and More [18]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Hair Salon, Head Massage, Head scratches, M/M, Reader-Insert, gender neutral reader, haircut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 08:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11620125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arsenicarose/pseuds/arsenicarose
Summary: Spencer comes in for a trim, but you are not his normal barber.Stand alone fanfic in a series of stand alone fanfics.Please feel free to make suggestions in the comments. :)





	Cutting Spencer's Hair

He comes in while you are sweeping up hair. Your coworker, Lani, is his regular barber, and you saw him go to her often. You often found yourself jealous. Lani was happily married, and his hair looked like a lot of fun to play with, as did he.

“Hello, Y/N. Good to see you,” Spencer says, walking up to you.

“Hey, Spencer. What can I do for you?”

He looks away awkwardly. “I, uh, I’m here for Lani? I need a trim.”

“Oh, sorry, sugar. Lani is out today. She’s sick. I could do it? Or you can come back another time?”

He shuffles in place, unsure of what to do. “I don’t know when I will be free again…”

“Don’t worry, I can do it. And I promise I won’t bite or anything.”

Spencer seems like a man who doesn’t like change, and you can almost see the debate in his mind.

“How about this,” you add, “If you don’t like it, I will pay for it and another cut from Lani, okay?”

“You would do that?” he asks, clearly surprised.

“Well, you’re going to like it,” you reply with a wink, “I’m pretty good at what you do.”

“No, no, no, no. I didn’t mean that you weren’t good! I just…”

“Don’t worry, hon. I completely understand. I’m the only one who cuts my hair. When you find something that works, you stick with it.”

“You’re hair looks really nice…” He says it as if he were telling himself more than you, but you thank him anyway.

“So, you want to do this?” you ask, pointing to an empty sink.

“Wait, I thought you were going to cut my hair?”

“I am, but I want to get it wet first. It’s easier to cut, especially since you have curls. I also want to control what goes into your hair right before the cut. We don’t have to if you are uncomfortable.”

“No, that’s fine… I’m just not used to it.”

“Yeah, Lani uses a spray bottle. More power to her, but I do it this way. Works best for me. Sorry, hon.”

Spencer suddenly seems a lot more nervous, and you wonder why. “No, really, it’s completely okay…” It seems like he is going to say more, but he just trails off.

You once again gesture to the sink, and he sits in front of it. “Are you allergic to anything?”

“Nothing that would be in hair care products.” He lays his head in the basin, his glorious curls cascading into the bowl. God, he has great hair.

You turn the faucet, and the water flows out, splashing the sink. You set it to a nice warm temperature, and say, “How’s this?”

His eyes are scrunched up tight, but he says, “That’s perfect.”

You point the showerhead away from his scalp. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’ve just never done this before.”

“Washed your hair?”

He squints at you. “Had someone else wash my hair.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”

“I know…” he murmurs.

“Shall I begin?”

“Yeah, sure.”

You point the nozzle back at his scalp and let the water paint it for a little while. You feel like you should go slowly with this one.

As the water runs down his curls in rivulets, he visibly begins to relax. You gently place your free hand on his forehead, testing the waters. He startles slightly, but relaxes again. You run your fingers through his soft hair, shaking water through it until it is thoroughly soaked.

A large selection of hair products sits next to the sink, and you consider each carefully before selecting a shampoo made for loose curls. It smells like cucumbers and melons, and the aroma fills the air as you squirt some into your palm.

“Does that smell alright?” you ask him.

“Mmhmm,” he hums.

You rub the shampoo between your hands until they are completely coated. Then, you reach for his hair. He doesn’t jump at all, which makes you feel better.

You start working it into his hair, at first with just your palm, then your fingers, then your nails. He starts to squirm beneath you, and you pull away.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry,” he mumbles, “I just… Don’t worry about me. I’ll let you know if something goes wrong.”

“Okay…” You go back to gently scratching his scalp, lathering the shampoo into a froth. With his hair back, you can truly see the beautiful angles of his face. His cheekbones, his jaw, his nose. He really is a well-made man.

You force yourself to focus on his hair. It feels wonderful, even wet and soapy. You let yourself shampoo a little longer than is necessary, not sure when you will have the chance again. Once his hair is properly frothy, you turn the water back on. When the water is about the same temperature, you angle it towards him.

He has been trying to sit peacefully since you paused the first time, but you could see him fidgeting a little. You wonder why he doesn’t ask you to stop… Or is he enjoying himself? You can’t quite tell.

The water cascades down his brown curls, and you shake the foam out, running your nails against his head on occasion. He especially twitches when you use your nails, but he never asks you to stop…

Next is the conditioner, and you choose something off the same line, with the same smell. Once his hair is covered in it, you sit next to him.

“We gotta let the conditioner sit for a moment.”

“Are you deep conditioning my hair?” he asks, sounding a little worried.

“Don’t worry, your hair is healthy. I just thought, why not? That’s what this kind of conditioner is made for, anyway.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Are you sure you are doing okay, sugar? I mean… You were moving around a lot in the chair.”

“It’s… That was a surprising sensation, not unpleasant, just new.” He blushes slightly, and you understand. He was enjoying it. You didn’t feel a need to tease him for it. Head massages feel good. It didn’t mean anything.

“I understand. Lots of people are surprised. I guess most hairdressers are less thorough? I think it is why I keep a lot of my client base,” you say, laughing.

He blushes deeper, but says nothing.

“I think we can rinse now. Ready?”

He nods, closing his eyes again. You had noticed how pretty they were when he first opened them, how big. He was being unfair by existing like this. You have to be professional when all you want to do is compliment him and make him smile.

Rinsing the conditioner is normally less fun, but you throw in some head scratches, watching his reaction carefully. Now you had seen he liked it, it was obvious to you. He looks like he is getting head tingles.

After the conditioner, you put in a heat treatment serum and dried his hair a little with a towel before guiding him to the chair. When he sits, you start to roughly towel his hair off. His eyes start open, but he closes them, mouth slightly open. You don’t think he knows you can see him still, and his facial expression is more blissful, less controlled.

You can’t rub his head forever, so you pull the towel off and start to brush his hair out. “Alright, how do you want your hair to look? How do you normally part it?”

He starts to generally describe what he is looking for, and you consider it carefully. “And I don’t part in the same way twice, so however you feel works,” he adds.

You part his hair slightly to the side and get to work. What he is looking for seems to be a trim with slight layering. You are careful to keep the length. He didn’t say he wanted it shorter, and you like his hair too much to leave him shorn.

When you finish your trim, you blow dry it, taking care with his curls so they don’t frizz.

Here it is, the moment of truth. You spin him away from you to face the mirror. Fear leaks into you for a moment. You don’t mind paying for his next haircut with Lani, and it wouldn’t really cost you anything to not get paid for this haircut. You just really wanted him to like it.

He takes it in, turning his head from side to side. His curls bounce, and you think he looks cute as hell.

Finally, he says, “Wow, Y/N. This is amazing! Thank you!”

You scrutinize his face in the mirror. “Are you sure? I keep my promises, and you don’t need to feel bad about holding me to them.”

He spins the chair back to you with his long legs. “I swear, it is perfect. Thank you.” He extracts his wallet from his back pocket, and pays in cash (adding a pretty generous tip).

“Wow, thank you!” you say, genuinely surprised.

“You earned it,” he replies with a grin.

As he leaves the salon, you feel a little bold. “Hey, Spencer?”

“Yes, Y/N?”

“If you ever want me to cut your hair again, or even if you just want another head massage, feel free to ask.” You add another wink, hoping he gets some hint.

“Oh, uh, thanks. I’ll, uh, I’ll let you know.” His face turns shades of pink as he quickly exits.

Huh, maybe you misread it.

\---

When Lani gets back to work, you tell her all about your encounter with the lovely Spencer. You don’t leave anything out, as Lani already knows you think he is cute.

“Did you get sick on purpose? Just for little ol’ me?” you tease.

Lani laughs. “No, my dear, but you are welcome anyway. Still, I can’t believe he let you cut his hair! He can be particular about it, and he- Well, never mind.”

“Come on, Lani, you can’t hold out on me now! And he what?”

“Come on, darling, have you been paying attention?”

“Attention to what?”

“He thinks you’re attractive, silly! Probably why he was so nervous about you cutting his hair. I mean, you see him when he comes in. He cares about it enough, but one botched hair cut isn’t like to affect him.”

“He what?! Wait, how did you know?”

“I got eyes, darling. You got them too, don’t ya?”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?! I could have given him my number or something!”

“Don’t worry, he’ll come back. He might even come back for you, especially with your goodbye.”


End file.
